Delivers 26 Straight Weeks of Across-the-Board Growth vs. Last Year, Best Key Demo Streak in Nearly 30 Years
Only Evening Newscast to Grow Total Viewers, A25-54 & A18-49 Viewers Season to Date
WEEK OF JULY 27 HIGHLIGHTS
Tom anchored Monday-Thursday (including from Castel Gandolfo for Pope Leo XIV’s Concert for Peace). Hallie Jackson anchored Friday.
- Nightly News scores its 26th consecutive week of across-the-board growth vs. last year
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth in the demo since May 1997
- Nightly News marks its best streak of year-over-year growth in total viewers and A18-49 on record
- Compared to the prior year, Nightly News narrowed its gaps with ABC in A25-54 by 37%, in A18-49 by 34% and in total viewers by 21%
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest key demo gaps vs. ABC in seven years for the current season
- Nightly News is the only network evening newscast to grow its viewership across the board vs. last season
WEEK OF JULY 27 STATS
- Averages 6.62 million total viewers, overperforming CBS by +2.493 million (+60%)
- Increases total viewership by +17,000 vs. last week and by +910,000 vs. last year
- Narrows total viewership gap vs. ABC by 21% vs. last year
- Grows total audience season to date by +242,000
- Averages 948,000 A25-54 viewers, leading CBS by +378,000 (+66%)
- Increases A25-54 viewership by +25% (+189,000) vs. last year
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 37% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 49% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest demo gap vs. the network in 7 years
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow vs. last season, +81,000
- Averages 708,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +307,000 (+77%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +164,000 (+30%)
- Narrows A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 34% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 36% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, closest demo gap vs. network in 6 years
- Grows A18-49 viewers vs. last season, +77,000
WEEK OF 7/27/2026
Note: All three programs were based on 4-day averages, retitling on Friday, 7/31.
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 948 | 708 | 6,620 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 570 | 401 | 4,127 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,078 | 822 | 8,168 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 7/27/2026 through Thursday, 7/30/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
